Star Spangled Comics Michelle Nolan

In retrospect, Star Spangled Comics has not enjoyed the respect the title deserves considering its status as a long-running successful Golden Age anthology.

In one respect Star Spangled – for some reason National Comics did not hyphenate the title –was the company's last link to the Golden Age. By the time the last issue, #130 (July 1952) appeared, the only other Golden Age titles left at DC were destined to survive all the way into the Bronze Age and in some cases beyond.

Star Spangled, though, was converted into one of DC's first three war titles. By the 1960s, during the dawn of comic fandom, the original run of Star Spangled had been largely forgotten, even though it was one of DC's fabulous "Big Eight" monthly anthology titles.

Star Spangled was the seventh anthology to arrive on the Golden Age scene, with #1 (Oct. 1941) soon followed by the eighth, Sensation #1 (Jan. 1942). Star Spangled outlasted all but Action, Adventure and Detective.

If you want the best examples of Star Spangled, you should best ignore the first six issues and start with #7 (April 1942) – a genuine collectible with debuts of Simon & Kirby's dynamic Newsboy Legion/Guardian series along with Robotman and T.N.T. with Dan, the Dyna-Mite. Only two super heroes appeared in the first six issues – Star Spangled Kid (with Stripesy) and Tarantula, but you also get those worthy fellows in #7-19.

The Newsboy Legion and their partner the Guardian, who beat S&K's Boy Commandos to the newsstands by two months with Detective #64 (June 1942), were pure Golden Age fun at its dynamic best, courtesy of the frenetic approach to storytelling of the inimitable S&K. The covers were all great examples of Golden Age storytelling.

Every Golden Age collector should try to get at least a couple of issues of Star Spangled #7-19, but they won't come cheap. Issue #7, valued at $637 in "good" in the Overstreet Price Guide, may be out of reach of many collectors and the others all run in the $125-250 range, even in "good."

Tarantula, an intriguing backup strip, bowed out in #19 (April 1943) as one of the first DC heroes to vanish. T.N.T. and Dan followed into the comic book in #23 (Aug. 1943). By then, though, there was a more interesting character to follow – Liberty Belle, the All-American Girl, who made her debut in #20 (May 1943).

Liberty Belle appeared only in Star Spangled during the Golden Age, but she had a respectable run for a patriotic backup costumed hero – 49 consecutive stories. She last appeared in #68 (May 1947), to be replaced in #69 by Tomahawk. Liberty Belle was that rare backup feature treated with total respect –she appeared in 10-page stories except for a few 9-pagers. Ideally, to balance out your Star Spangled collection, you need a couple of issues with Liberty Belle.

Robin, the Boy Wonder, began appearing solo in Star Spangled #65 (Feb. 1947), replacing the Newsboy Legion, who never achieved the overall popularity of the Boy Commandos. Batman made several cameo appearances with his young partner and also appeared in standard Batman/Robin action in #88-94 stories that could just as easily have appeared in Detective. For some reason, those seven issues of Star Spangled can be tough to find, along with other issues numbered in the #80-87 range.

Robotman bowed out of Star Spangled in #82 (July 1948), switching to Detective to make room for Captain Compass, one of DC's least memorable anthology characters unless you love sea stories.

Stripesy, one of the worst of DC's Golden Age characters, last appeared in the Star Spangled Kid strip in #81, to be supplanted by Merry, Girl of 1,000 Gimmicks in #82. In turn, she took over the Star Spangled Kid strip in #84 and began appearing on her own in #87. Her short run ended in #90 (March 1949), just one more victim, albeit little known, of DC's costume hero purge.

Your best bet, then, is to get Star Spangled #88, 89 or 90, since you have rousing Batman and Robin stories, along with tales of Merry, Tomahawk and Captain Compass providing a good feel for the changes the title underwent.

Robin's last cover appearance was #95 (Aug. 1949), to be supplanted by a long series of highly attractive Tomahawk covers on #96-121. Some of those covers alone make a few issues worth collecting.

Otherwise, your best bet is to pick up at least a couple of issues of Star Spangled #122-130, all of which feature nifty eight-page stories of Dr. Thirteen, the Ghost-Breaker, one of DC's best supernatural-story types. All of those final nine issues of Star Spangled are pretty tough to find, especially #130. They also feature the final solo appearances of Robin along with Tomahawk, who gained his own title in 1950.

Dr. Thirteen was a nifty character, but perhaps a bit too close in hoax-breaking theme to Detective's long-running Roy Raymond, who lasted into the Silver Age.

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Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon

Amazing top-notch A-List artists + a huge room full of comic book dealers selling tons of comics + throngs of excited and loyal fans = The Paradise Comics Toronto Comicon. Of course, CGC was there in the thick of it and enjoying every minute, doubling submissions from the last show which was in Toronto. Our submissions weren’t just doubled in total volume of books, but we also easily doubled the number of different customers that submitted their comic books and comic magazines to us! The prestigious CGC Signature Series took off at the show and accounted for almost half of our total submissions.

Convention organizers, Peter Dixon and Kevin Boyd, set up a great show that included a charity auction on Saturday night that raised over $4,000 (Canadian dollars) for The Canadian Children’s Help Line, The North York Harvest Foodbank and A Commitment To Our Roots (ACTOR). Following the auction, CGC Forum Members went to what has fast become a convention event, the CGC Forum dinner.

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Thrillkill Shawn Caffrey

To continue from last month’s article, Creepy #91 has been a landmark comic magazine, in my collecting opinion, since I first laid eyes upon it. I had recently discussed most of the stories inside except for one, but as they say, save the best for last; or in this case, the worst.

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Las Vegas Comic Con

The very first Extrosion, the Las Vegas Comicon, was hosted in the amazing Mandalay Bay Resort and CGC was there in full force as a sponsor.

Before the doors had opened to the public, CGC had received some great submissions. The show was buzzing due to some amazing local television coverage that interviewed Diamond International Galleries President John K. Snyder, Jr. During the interview, Mr. Snyder, on behalf of Steve Geppi, offered a cool million dollars for an unrestored Universal 9.4 copy of Action Comics #1. CGC was mentioned throughout the television interview and some of our certified product graced the airwaves.

The CGC staff was kept busy answering questions and helping our customers with their submissions at the CGC Submission Center. We signed up some new Member Dealers like Hobby Monkey from Rocklin, California, and were happy to help them with their very first submission. It was great to hear praise from everyone we met and to see the smiles on their faces when they left our booth.

Vincent Zurzolo, Jr. of Metropolis Collectibles, a CGC Charter Member, was very enthusiastic about the outcome of the show saying, "Metropolis had a great show. We made some big sales and are looking forward to coming back next year. For their first attempt it was a really solid show that will only get better."

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